# System Security Plan (SSP) — Diskless Fleet Boot System

> **Protective marking:** `OFFICIAL: Sensitive` *(sample marking — set per the
> organisation's classification of the highest-sensitivity data the system
> handles; an SSP that describes the security architecture is normally marked at
> or one level above the system's data classification.)*
>
> **A&A framework:** Australian Government — Protective Security Policy Framework
> (PSPF) + ASD *Information Security Manual* (ISM). This document is the **System
> Security Plan** required by the ISM *Guidelines for cyber security
> documentation* and is the primary input to the IRAP security assessment and the
> Authorising Officer's authorisation (ATO) decision.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| System name | Diskless Fleet Boot System ("the fleet") |
| Document type | System Security Plan (SSP) |
| Version | 0.4 (DRAFT — pre-assessment) |
| Date | 2026-07-11 |
| Author / maintainer | System Owner (delegate) |
| Status | Lab / pre-production. STIG hardening applied + bench-verified; **UEFI Secure Boot signing verified enforcing on real hardware** (VM HTTP + EliteBook 820 PXE); secure path (802.1X/MACsec) not yet bench-verified. **v0.3 adds the fleet-management plane** (on-host `fleet-agent` telemetry over TPM-mTLS — bench-verified on hardware 2026-07-10; server-side manager with **WebAuthn-passkey** admin MFA + TPM enrolment broker) and July hardening changes (three local SELinux modules; fapolicyd overlay exec-guard fix). **v0.4** adds two host-identity/time hardening features (both implemented 2026-07-11): broker-mediated **SSH host certificates** (F-02/P-17 — **bench-verified 2026-07-11** on `comet-beacon-54`, clean build `28d31e4`) and **NTS authenticated time** (F-03/P-18 — bench-verify pending). |
| Companion documents | [Annex A — ISM control cross-reference & residual risk](ssp-annex-a-ism-residual-risk.md); [Architecture design v2](diskless-fleet-design-v2.pdf); [Design errata](design-v2-errata.md); [Fleet-management design](fleet-management-design.md); [TPM enrolment design](tpm-enrolment-design.md); [STIG deviation register](stig-deviations.md); [Backlog / POA&M source](TODO.md) |

> **Currency caveat (read before relying on control numbers).** This SSP and its
> annex are drafted against the ISM structure as understood to a January 2026
> baseline. The engagement specifies the **May 2026 ISM**. The ISM is reissued on
> a quarterly cadence and **control identifiers are added, retired and
> renumbered between releases.** Every `ISM-NNNN` identifier in Annex A is
> therefore **representative and MUST be validated by the IRAP assessor against
> the actual May 2026 release** before the assessment is relied upon. The
> *intent* of each control mapping is stable; the *number* may not be.

---

## 1. Purpose and scope

This SSP describes the security architecture, the security controls implemented,
and the residual risk of the **Diskless Fleet Boot System** — a fleet of
diskless workstations that network-boot a signed, immutable operating system over
the wire and hold **no persistent local state**. It supports an Australian
**Assessment and Authorisation (A&A)** process: it is the document an IRAP
assessor evaluates to produce the Security Assessment Report (SAR), and that the
Authorising Officer (AO) uses to make a risk-based **Authority to Operate (ATO)**
decision.

**In scope:** the boot chain (UEFI HTTP boot → signed UKI → dracut initramfs →
network authentication → encrypted root mount → verified read-only OS), the
runtime workstation OS image, the host's cryptographic identity (TPM), the
hardening baseline applied to the image, and the **on-host `fleet-agent`** (the
in-image telemetry client that streams host health to the management plane over
TPM-mTLS — new in v0.3; `files/agent/`).

**Out of scope (separately authorised — connected systems):** the lab serving
stack (DHCP/HTTP/NVMe-oF target, audit collector — `serving/`); the **server-side
fleet-management plane** (`serving/fleet-manager/` — the control-plane hub, its
admin web UI, the InfluxDB metrics store, and the Traefik ingress); the **TPM
enrolment broker** (`serving/enrol-broker/`) and the **step-ca fleet certificate
authority** it signs against; the 802.1X authenticator/RADIUS infrastructure; the
network fabric; and physical security of the facility. These are dependencies the
host connects to and are described here where the host interacts with them, but
each carries its own security documentation and authorisation.

## 2. System description

### 2.1 Overview

Each host is **diskless**: it has no installed operating system and no writable
persistent storage that participates in identity. At power-on it performs UEFI
**HTTP boot**, fetches a **signed Unified Kernel Image (UKI)**, and assembles a
running system whose root filesystem is an **immutable, cryptographically
verified image mounted over the network**. All host identity is derived **at
runtime from a hardware Trusted Platform Module (TPM)**; nothing host-specific
exists in any build artifact.

A release is a **signed UKI** plus a root image, packaged together as a
**FROM-scratch OCI artifact image** and pinned by digest in a deployment
manifest. One commit = one release = one digest = one manifest entry.

### 2.2 Boot and trust chain (control flow)

> **Boot transport (two paths, auto-selected):** HTTP-boot-capable firmware
> fetches the UKI directly over UEFI HTTP boot. Firmware **without** HTTP boot
> (e.g. HP EliteBook 820 G4) falls back to **PXE → iPXE → HTTP** (dnsmasq serves
> iPXE over TFTP, which chainloads the same UKI). Both land on the same signed
> UKI. **Lab status:** Secure Boot is currently **OFF** and the UKI/iPXE are
> **unsigned** — signing is wired in CI and the key procedure is documented
> ([secure-boot-keys.md](secure-boot-keys.md)) but not yet enforced (residual
> R-03/signing in Annex A).

1. **UEFI Secure Boot** (when enabled) measures and verifies the UKI signature
   against the enrolled `db` key before execution. On the PXE/iPXE path the iPXE
   binary is likewise verified against `db`; only the fleet's own `db` need be
   enrolled (no Microsoft CA / shim).
2. **UKI (systemd-stub)** carries the kernel, the `--no-hostonly` initramfs, and
   an **immutable, signed kernel command line** (includes the dm-verity root
   hash and STIG kernel parameters). No GRUB.
3. **Initramfs (dracut)** brings up the NIC and performs **802.1X EAP-TLS**
   network authentication using a **private key held in the TPM** (persistent
   handle `0x81000100`); the client certificate is read from TPM NV index
   `0x01800100`.
4. On authorisation, **MACsec** is established on the access link (link-layer
   encryption/integrity); the host then obtains an IP **on the MACsec interface**
   via DHCP.
5. The host connects its **root over NVMe/TCP**, maps it through **dm-verity**
   (block-level integrity against the signed root hash in the UKI cmdline), and
   mounts the **erofs** read-only root.
6. A **tmpfs (RAM) volatile overlay** (`systemd.volatile=overlay`) provides the
   writable layer. It is discarded at power-off — the host returns to a known,
   verified state every boot.
7. `switch-root` into the real system; NetworkManager renews the DHCP lease so
   the network-mounted root stays alive; the host derives its NVMe `hostnqn` from
   the TPM certificate serial and (kiosk builds) launches the locked-down kiosk.
   Early in the running system the host also (a) syncs **CA-authenticated time**
   (NTS, RFC 8915 — the NTP source's TLS certificate is verified against the fleet
   CA, so a DHCP/NTP/DNS spoofer can only DoS, never shift the clock) and (b) gets
   its **per-boot SSH host key signed into an OpenSSH host certificate** by the
   fleet SSH CA — brokered through the enrol-broker host plane over TPM-identity
   mTLS — so administrators trust the fleet through a single `@cert-authority` line
   instead of per-boot trust-on-first-use.
8. **Post-boot management (v0.3):** the hardened **`fleet-agent`** service dials
   the management plane and identifies with the **same TPM key/cert** used for
   802.1X and the NVMe `hostnqn` ("one identity, three stages"), streaming host
   health over mTLS. It is telemetry-only in v1 — it receives desired-state /
   commands but **only logs** them (no host mutation). It is a
   **post-switch-root** component only (not in the initramfs).

### 2.3 Authorisation boundary

The authorisation boundary is the **running workstation host**: the UKI, the
initramfs and its custom 802.1X/MACsec dracut module, the verified erofs root,
the tmpfs overlay, the TPM-backed identity, the hardened OS configuration, and the
in-image **`fleet-agent`**. The boundary's external interfaces are: (a) the
**access link** (802.1X-controlled port, MACsec-encrypted); (b) the **NVMe/TCP**
root storage session; (c) **outbound audit log** forwarding; (d) the **kiosk
application** endpoint the browser renders; (e) the **boot transport** (UEFI HTTP
boot, or PXE/TFTP→iPXE) that delivers the UKI; (f) **USB/peripheral** ports, now
mediated by USBGuard (§5.2); and (g) the **management plane** — an *outbound-only*
mTLS gRPC session from `fleet-agent` to the fleet-manager (`manager.fleet.lab:9600`,
across the OPNsense L3 hop from the host VLAN to the management network; no inbound
host port), authenticated with the host's TPM identity cert. Each crossing is a
control point addressed in Annex A.

### 2.4 Data and classification

- **Data at rest in the artifact:** none that is host-specific or sensitive. The
  image is generic to the whole fleet by design (Architecture invariant #1 — *no
  per-host state in any artifact, ever*).
- **Host identity / key material:** the EAP-TLS private key **never leaves the
  TPM**; the certificate is read from TPM NV. Signing keys for the UKI are
  CI/HSM-held and **never enter the build VM or the repository**.
- **Data in transit:** access link protected by **MACsec**; NVMe/TCP root and
  audit-log offload currently **plaintext on an isolated lab LAN** (see residual
  risk R-04, R-07 in Annex A). The **management-plane** telemetry stream is
  **mTLS-encrypted** (fleet CA) end-to-end — unlike the NVMe/audit hops, it is not
  plaintext. **NTP is now NTS-authenticated** (RFC 8915) — the time source's TLS
  certificate is verified against the fleet CA, so the host clock cannot be spoofed
  (F-03). Administrative **SSH host identity** is asserted by a **fleet-SSH-CA
  certificate** (broker-signed at boot), replacing per-boot trust-on-first-use
  (F-02).
- **Management telemetry (v0.3):** the agent sends host **health** (load/cpu/temp/
  memory/tmpfs, uptime, NVMe-root state, 802.1X/MACsec + SELinux state, chrony
  clock health, kiosk state) and **inventory facts** (image version, kernel,
  cert-serial). This is **operational metadata, not user data**, and it carries **no
  per-host secret** (identity is the reused TPM cert; the private key never leaves
  the TPM). It is retained server-side (InfluxDB) — a **connected-system**
  responsibility (see §1, R-14).
- **Data at rest in the overlay:** ephemeral, RAM-only, discarded at power-off.

The **system's data classification governs this SSP's marking and the required
ISM control set.** The classification of the data rendered by the kiosk
application and accessible from the workstation must be confirmed with the System
Owner; this draft assumes an **OFFICIAL / OFFICIAL: Sensitive** working
classification and should be re-baselined if the system processes PROTECTED or
above (which raises additional ISM control obligations, e.g. ASD-approved
cryptography enforcement, gateway controls, and stricter media handling).

## 3. Security governance and A&A roles

| Role | Responsibility (PSPF/ISM) | Assignment |
|---|---|---|
| **Authorising Officer (AO)** | Accepts residual risk; grants/denies/revokes the ATO. | *TBA — appoint before assessment* |
| **System Owner** | Accountable for the system's security posture and this SSP. | *TBA* |
| **Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)** | Organisational cyber security oversight; advises the AO. | *TBA* |
| **IRAP Assessor** | Independent assessment of control implementation effectiveness; produces the SAR. | *Engaged for assessment* |
| **System Manager / Administrators** | Day-to-day operation, patching, incident response, continuous monitoring. | Fleet platform team |
| **Build / release pipeline owner** | Integrity of the CI build, signing, and digest-pinned deployment. | Fleet platform team |

## 4. A&A process and status

This system follows the ISM A&A lifecycle:

1. **Define** the system, its boundary and data classification (this SSP §2).
2. **Select** the applicable ISM controls (Annex A, driven by classification).
3. **Implement** the controls (this SSP §5–§6; the codebase is the implementation
   of record).
4. **Assess** — IRAP assessor evaluates effectiveness → **Security Assessment
   Report (SAR)**.
5. **Authorise** — AO weighs residual risk (Annex A risk register) → **ATO**.
6. **Monitor** — continuous monitoring and a maintained **Plan of Action &
   Milestones (POA&M)** (this repo's [TODO.md](TODO.md) is the working POA&M
   source).

**Current status:** Pre-assessment **DRAFT (v0.3, updated 2026-07-10)**. The system
is functional in a lab configuration.

**Progress since v0.2 (2026-07-10):** the **fleet-management plane** was built and,
on the host side, **bench-verified end-to-end on real hardware** (`comet-beacon-54`):
the in-image **`fleet-agent`** streams health to the server over **mTLS using the
reused TPM identity** (telemetry-only — desired-state/commands are received but only
logged, zero host mutation). The server-side manager adds a **WebAuthn-passkey**
(phishing-resistant, origin-bound) admin plane — the first **human-admin MFA** on the
management plane — and a **TPM enrolment broker** (unauthenticated pre-auth CSR → OOB
fingerprint → admin-mTLS approve → step-ca sign) that births the per-host inventory
record. Its server-side server cert now **auto-renews** from the co-located CA. Host
hardening also advanced: **three local SELinux policy modules** were added (all
documented deviations — [stig-deviations.md](stig-deviations.md) #14–16), and a
**material fapolicyd finding was fixed (2026-07-04)** — the app-allow-listing exec
guard was effectively *inactive on the overlay root* (`overlay` missing from
`watch_fs`) and is now enforcing across the whole root (see §5.2). The server-side
plane (manager/broker/InfluxDB/step-ca) is a **connected system** pending its own
authorisation (R-14).

**Progress since v0.1 (2026-06-20):** DISA
STIG hardening applied and **bench-verified** on a real build (kiosk, key-only SSH,
audit offload, DHCP-named host, NVMe/verity root all good with hardening on);
USBGuard device control enabled + verified; admin confined to `staff_u`; **UEFI
Secure Boot signing verified enforcing end-to-end on real hardware** (CI-signed UKI
under SB on a VM/HTTP, and the signed iPXE→UKI chain under SB on an EliteBook 820
G4/PXE, with `db`/`KEK`/`PK` enrolled via `fleet-sb-enroll`); and — newly — a
**Wazuh SIEM** (dedicated multi-node, agentless) ingesting the fleet auditd stream
with a custom decoder/rules, **decode + alert bench-verified 2026-06-27**, lifting
the "Detect" pillar from log-collection-only to analysis + alerting. Several
controls remain **partial or deferred**, tracked as residual risks with treatments
(Annex A §3). The largest remaining gates on a production ATO: (a) the secure path
(**802.1X/MACsec**) is implemented but **not yet bench-verified** and is disabled
in test builds (`disable_dot1x=true`, R-01); (b) a lab-only **passwordless-root
debug shell** must be removed (R-02). Boot-chain signing / Secure Boot — a major
v0.1 gate — is now **demonstrated on hardware**; the residual (R-13) is reduced to
making signed + Secure-Boot-on the **standing default** for every production
host/build.

## 5. Security control implementation — by ISM cyber security principle

The ISM organises controls under four principles: **Govern, Protect, Detect,
Respond.** Annex A gives the line-by-line control cross-reference; this section
summarises the implementation posture.

### 5.1 Govern
- Documented architecture (design v2 + errata), enforced **architecture
  invariants** ([CLAUDE.md](../CLAUDE.md)), and a maintained backlog/POA&M.
- Reproducible, **digest-pinned** releases; one release = one digest = one
  manifest commit; rollback = revert the commit.
- Signing keys held outside the repo and build VM (CI/HSM).
- *Gaps:* formal SRMP, IRP, and continuous-monitoring plan to be authored;
  A&A roles to be appointed (§3).

### 5.2 Protect
- **Identity & authentication:** mutual **802.1X EAP-TLS** with a
  **non-exportable TPM key**; network access controlled at the switch port. The
  **management-plane agent reuses the same TPM identity** for mTLS to the
  fleet-manager (one non-exportable key backs 802.1X, the NVMe `hostnqn`, and the
  agent stream — "one identity, three stages"), and the server keys inventory off
  the verified cert serial, so a host can only ever report as itself.
- **Management-plane admin MFA (v0.3):** the server-side admin web UI enforces
  **WebAuthn passkeys** — phishing-resistant, origin-bound, hardware-backed
  MFA — behind a Traefik ingress that terminates a Let's Encrypt cert (DNS-01).
  This is the first human-admin MFA in the system (the manager/broker admin planes
  are a **connected system**, but the control is noted here as it closes the
  long-standing "no admin MFA" gap for management operations; host SSH admin
  remains key-only — R-05).
- **Link protection:** **MACsec** on the access link.
- **Authenticated time (NTS — v0.4):** chrony syncs only from an **NTS** (RFC 8915)
  source whose NTS-KE TLS certificate is **fleet-CA-signed** (verified against the
  same `radius-ca.pem` the host already trusts). The server name is derived at
  runtime from the DHCP domain (`ntp.<domain>` — no baked FQDN, so a site-domain
  change needs no rebuild), and the unauthenticated DHCP option-42 source is **not**
  mixed in. A DHCP/NTP/DNS spoofer can therefore only cause **no-sync (DoS)**, never
  shift the clock — closing the "unauthenticated time feeds every certificate-
  validity decision" gap (F-03/P-18). `nocerttimecheck 1` lets an RTC-less cold boot
  bootstrap the first measurement. Toggle `secure_ntp` (default true).
- **Boot & OS integrity:** **Secure Boot** + **signed UKI** with an **immutable
  cmdline**; **dm-verity** read-only root (continuous cryptographic integrity);
  **erofs** immutable filesystem; **reproducible** build (verity hash is a pure
  function of inputs). Signing is **wired in CI** (`sbsign`/ukify via
  `SB_KEY`/`SB_CERT` secrets) with a documented PK/KEK/db key + enrolment
  procedure ([secure-boot-keys.md](secure-boot-keys.md)) and a baked, efitools-free
  enrolment helper (`fleet-sb-enroll`); **not yet enforced in the lab** (SB OFF,
  unsigned — see Annex A).
- **System hardening (DISA STIG applied + bench-verified 2026-06-20):** STIG
  baseline via OpenSCAP/SSG with a documented tailoring + per-build deviations
  report; all REVIEW rows triaged. **SELinux enforcing**; **fapolicyd**
  application allow-listing (the exec guard for the writable RAM overlay dm-verity
  cannot cover); **USBGuard enforcing** (`ImplicitPolicyTarget=block` + a
  hardware-independent HID/hub allowlist + LinuxAudit — verified blocks USB mass
  storage while keeping console input; device/removable-media control); **key-only
  SSH**, root login disabled, hardened ciphers/MACs/KEX (note: STIG crypto policy
  drops ed25519 → admin key must be ECDSA/RSA); **kiosk lockdown** (single locked
  browser, no shell/navigation); **postfix removed** (no local MTA — audit-failure
  notification rides the remote offload, not email). Three **local SELinux policy
  modules** are shipped for architecture-specific allows, each a documented
  deviation ([stig-deviations.md](stig-deviations.md) #14–16): `chrony_dhcp_dispatcher`
  (NM-dispatcher chrony reload), `fapolicyd_tmpfs` (statfs the overlay upper), and
  `fleet_agent_chronylog` (agent reads chrony's tracking log). No blanket
  permissive domains; SELinux stays enforcing.
- **Application-control effectiveness fix (2026-07-04):** a bench finding showed
  fapolicyd's exec guard was **effectively inactive on the root** — the diskless
  root is `overlayfs`, which was **absent from fapolicyd's `watch_fs`**, so
  fapolicyd marked no mounts and intercepted no exec on `/`, `/usr` or `/tmp`.
  Adding `overlay` to `watch_fs` turned app-allow-listing **on for the whole
  overlay root for the first time** — verified: a novel non-RPM binary in `/tmp`
  is now denied (`FAN_DENY`), nothing legitimate broke. (Residual: path-based trust
  doesn't catch a *modified trusted path* via copy-up — tracked as TODO #15 /
  the `integrity=sha256` option — noted in stig-deviations #15.)
- **Privileged access:** single **key-only `wheel` admin**, root locked. The admin
  is now **confined to the `staff_u` SELinux user** with a sudoers role/type
  transition (`sysadm_r`/`sysadm_t`) so privilege elevation re-labels the SELinux
  context (STIG `selinux_context_elevation_for_sudo`). Still **NOPASSWD** (the
  account is passwordless/key-only) and fleet-generic — see R-05.
- **Administrative host-key trust (SSH host certificates — v0.4):** because the
  overlay is ephemeral, sshd host keys are new every boot; rather than perpetual
  trust-on-first-use, each host at boot gets its **per-boot host key signed into an
  OpenSSH host certificate by the fleet SSH CA**, brokered through the
  **enrol-broker host plane** over **TPM-identity mTLS** (the same non-exportable
  TPM key that backs 802.1X and the NVMe `hostnqn`). Admins add **one
  `@cert-authority` line** and thereafter verify every host against the fleet SSH
  CA — no per-boot key pinning, and a LAN MITM of admin SSH becomes
  client-detectable. step-ca stays behind the broker's single front door; the
  client **fails open** to a bare (TOFU) key if the broker/CA is unreachable, so it
  cannot brick admin access. Closes F-02/P-17. Toggle `enable_ssh_hostcert`
  (default true).
- **No persistent attack surface:** diskless; overlay discarded each boot; no
  per-host secrets in the image.
- *Gaps / decisions:* **FIPS OFF** (lab phase); **host firewall disabled** (the
  workstation; the serving host's ufw is configured); NVMe/TCP and audit offload
  **plaintext on the isolated LAN**; NOPASSWD admin; **placeholder RADIUS CA**;
  signing not yet enforced (SB OFF). See Annex A residual risks.

### 5.3 Detect
- **auditd** enabled with STIG audit rules; kernel `audit=1` +
  `audit_backlog_limit` in the signed cmdline. USBGuard device events logged via
  the LinuxAudit backend. auditd `space_left_action` repointed to **syslog**
  (no local MTA), so audit-volume alerts ride the remote offload.
- **Centralised log offload** via rsyslog (`audisp-syslog` → rsyslog `omfwd`,
  disk-assisted queue) to a dedicated **audit collector** (`serving/audit-collector/`).
  **Bench-verified end-to-end 2026-06-20** (records reach the collector,
  per-source-host files).
- **SIEM analysis + alerting (Wazuh)** — the collector **relays** the auditd
  stream to a **dedicated multi-node Wazuh** instance (`wazuh1.bitasylum.org`);
  ingestion is **agentless** (no agent/state in the diskless image, invariant #1).
  A custom **`fleet-auditd`** decoder + rules handle the STIG `name_format=hostname`
  (`node=` prefix) and surface events in the `fleet_audit` group with severity by
  type (auth, privilege/`USER_CMD`, SELinux/AVC). **Decode + alert bench-verified
  2026-06-27** (`wazuh-logtest` + a live `sudo` surfacing `USER_CMD`/`CRED_*` in
  the dashboard). Config is declarative (`serving/siem/`, mounted via
  `/wazuh-config-mount`).
- **Fleet health telemetry (v0.3):** the `fleet-agent` streams host health
  (resource pressure, NVMe-root/auth/SELinux/chrony/kiosk state, uptime) to the
  manager over mTLS; the manager persists a time-series (InfluxDB) and flags
  version-drift, SELinux-permissive, and reboot-pending in an admin dashboard. This
  is an **operational-health** signal (complements the auditd/Wazuh **security-event**
  path — different purpose, different data): e.g. a host reporting `SELinux:
  permissive` or overlay RAM exhaustion is surfaced for the operator. The store and
  dashboard are a **connected system** (server-side); the host-side contribution is
  the read-only probe + mTLS stream.
- *Gaps:* both audit-offload hops (host→collector, collector→Wazuh) currently
  **plaintext** (TLS planned, R-07); **log retention/archival** (ISM) not yet
  configured; default Wazuh credentials to be rotated before production.

### 5.4 Respond
- Known-good recovery is **inherent**: a host returns to a verified state on
  reboot; a bad release is rolled back by reverting one manifest commit (digest
  pin).
- *Gaps:* formal **Incident Response Plan**, log-retention policy, and
  break-glass/forensics procedure (the diskless model complicates live forensics
  — RAM overlay is volatile) to be authored.

## 6. Essential Eight alignment (indicative)

The Essential Eight is mitigation guidance, not a substitute for the ISM, but the
AO will expect a maturity view:

| Mitigation | Posture | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Application control | **Strong** | fapolicyd allow-listing + immutable verified root; only RPM-trusted (plus two trusted local binaries: kiosk-session, fleet-sb-enroll) executables run. USBGuard enforces device control on USB ports. |
| Patch applications | **Process** | Patching = rebuild + re-sign + redeploy a new digest; cadence/SLA to be defined. |
| Configure MS Office macros | **N/A** | No office suite; kiosk is a locked browser. |
| User application hardening | **Strong (kiosk)** | Chromium locked down via enterprise policy; no plugins/shell/nav. |
| Restrict admin privileges | **Partial** | Single key-only `wheel` admin, root locked, now **SELinux-confined to `staff_u`** with a sudo role/type transition (NOPASSWD, see R-05); **management-plane** admin actions now require a **WebAuthn passkey** (v0.3). Still no per-host/rotatable *host* access model. |
| Patch operating systems | **Process** | Same rebuild/redeploy model; immutable image means uniform, atomic OS updates. |
| Multi-factor authentication | **Strong (machine) + admin passkey** | Host auth is certificate + TPM-bound key (something-the-machine-has, non-exportable). **Human admin MFA is now enforced on the management-plane UI via WebAuthn passkeys** (phishing-resistant, origin-bound) — v0.3. Host SSH admin remains key-only (no separate human MFA — R-05). |
| Regular backups | **N/A (by design)** | Diskless, stateless hosts hold nothing to back up; recoverability is re-provisioning from a pinned digest. Backup applies to serving-side state, out of scope here. |

## 7. Residual risk summary

The full residual-risk register is **[Annex A §3](ssp-annex-a-ism-residual-risk.md#3-residual-risk-register)**.
The headline residual risks the AO must explicitly accept or treat before a
production ATO:

| ID | Residual risk | Rating (pre-treatment) | Disposition |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-01 | Secure path (802.1X/MACsec) not yet bench-verified; currently disabled in test builds. | **High** | Treat — verify before production authorisation. |
| R-02 | ~~`debug_shell=true` bakes a **passwordless root shell** on a tty.~~ **Removed 2026-07-11** (`poam-hardening`): the `debug_shell` variable and its provisioner were deleted from the template — no build can bake a debug shell. | **High → residual Low** | **Remediated** — assessor to verify absence on the assessed digest (POA&M P-02 M2). |
| R-03 | STIG hardening **applied + bench-verified** (2026-06-20); `enable_stig=true` is now **enforced by Packer variable validation** and CI fails closed on unsigned/placeholder-CA builds (2026-07-11). Residual: signing/SB must be confirmed on the *assessed* digest. | **Medium** | Treat — confirm signed + `enable_stig=true` on the assessed build (P-03/P-04/P-05). |
| R-04 | NVMe/TCP root traffic **plaintext** on the lab LAN. | **Medium** | Accept (isolated LAN) / treat for production. |
| R-05 | NOPASSWD key-only **host** admin (now `staff_u`-confined); no per-host/rotatable access model. (Management-plane admin MFA now enforced via WebAuthn passkeys — v0.3.) | **Medium** | Accept with compensating controls / roadmap. |
| R-06 | **FIPS off**; ASD-approved-cryptography conformance not yet asserted. | **Medium** | Treat — required for PROTECTED+; revisit with signing. |
| R-07 | Audit-log offload **plaintext** on both hops (host→collector, collector→Wazuh); **log retention not yet configured**. SIEM **analysis + alerting now in place** (Wazuh, decode+alert bench-verified 2026-06-27). | **Low–Medium** | Treat — TLS both hops + ISM retention/archival + rotate Wazuh creds before production. |
| R-08 | **Placeholder RADIUS CA** in the repo; real trust anchor not yet provisioned. | **Medium** | Treat — environment-specific, before production. |
| R-09 | Host **firewall disabled** (workstation). | **Low–Medium** | Accept (isolated LAN) / treat with explicit allow-rules. |
| R-13 | **Boot-chain signing not yet the standing default.** Signing + Secure Boot enforcement **verified end-to-end on hardware** (VM HTTP UKI 2026-06-20; 820 PXE signed iPXE→UKI 2026-06-22), but unsigned/SB-OFF lab builds are still possible (CI signs only when `SB_KEY`/`SB_CERT` are set) and not all hosts have `db` enrolled. | **Low** | Treat — make signed + Secure-Boot-on the default for all production builds/hosts (set CI secrets; enrol `db` fleet-wide). |
| R-14 | **Management/enrolment plane is a connected system, built but not yet separately authorised.** The host now trusts + streams to the fleet-manager and enrols via the broker/**step-ca fleet CA** (a new trust anchor + key material) whose one **unauthenticated pre-auth CSR endpoint** is a new server-side surface. Host-side exposure is limited (outbound-only mTLS, read-only telemetry, commands logged-not-applied in v1). | **Medium** | Treat — separate SSP/authorisation for the management plane (CA key protection, broker endpoint hardening, InfluxDB token/data, admin-plane exposure). |
| R-15 | **Deferred agent reconcile actuators.** v1 receives `DesiredState`/`Command` but only logs them; when actuation (apply kiosk_url / reboot / drain) is built, the agent becomes a **remote host-mutation channel** needing re-assessment. | **Low** (v1) | Treat at build time — assess the command/authZ path before enabling actuators. |
| R-16 | Per-boot SSH host keys made admin SSH perpetual **TOFU** (LAN MITM client-undetectable). **Remediated 2026-07-11**: broker-mediated **SSH host certificates** (`enable_ssh_hostcert=true`) — per-boot key signed by the fleet SSH CA via the enrol-broker host plane (TPM-mTLS); admins trust one `@cert-authority` line. **Bench-verified 2026-07-11 on clean build `28d31e4`** (comet-beacon-54: FQDN login by name, no TOFU, **survives reboot unattended**; SELinux clean). | **Low** | Treat — roll the `@cert-authority` anchor to admins; broker-side principal validation is a defence-in-depth TODO (F-02/P-17). |
| R-17 | Time source was **unauthenticated** (DHCP-handed NTP) — the clock feeds every certificate-validity decision. **Remediated 2026-07-11**: **NTS** (RFC 8915, `secure_ntp=true`) — fleet-CA-signed NTS-KE cert verified against `radius-ca.pem`; server name derived from the DHCP domain (no baked FQDN); a spoofer can only DoS. **Bench-verify pending.** | **Low** (once verified) | Treat — bench-verify `chronyc authdata` cookies + tcp/4460 + cold-clock + STIG chrony; issue the per-env NTS cert (F-03/P-18). |

Each is detailed, ISM-cross-referenced, rated and assigned a treatment in Annex A.

## 8. Continuous monitoring and maintenance

- **Build-time assurance:** every release is reproducible (verity hash verified
  stable across two builds), the UKI/rootfs roothash coupling is a hard CI gate,
  and the STIG scan publishes a report + a deviations register per build.
- **Runtime monitoring:** auditd + centralised log offload; host returns to a
  verified state each boot.
- **POA&M:** [docs/TODO.md](TODO.md) is the live working POA&M; items feed Annex A
  treatments. The SSP and Annex A are re-baselined at each material architecture
  change and at each scheduled A&A review.

---

*End of SSP. See [Annex A](ssp-annex-a-ism-residual-risk.md) for the ISM control
cross-reference and the full residual-risk register.*